Providing superior legal services as an extension of the law department to reduce cost

Deploying from a deep bench of eLEXir people, Morae Global works with corporate law departments to meet each client’s unique needs while offering significant cost savings and cost certainty through use of alternative fee arrangements.

eLEXir people (attorneys, paralegals and project managers) work under the supervision of in-house counsel as an extension of the in-house staff, but with…

No need to increase in-house headcount.

No costs to provide benefits, no permanent space requirements and no other overhead costs.

A broad range of skill sets, which can be cycled on and off as necessary.

The ability to staff up immediately for short-term projects.

Experience from working in multiple complex settings, including Fortune 500 corporations and Am Law 200 law firms.

The benefit of only paying for actual time spent on work you need done.

A pricing model that delivers full predictability and greater control.

eLEXir people tap into their extensive experience with Fortune 500 corporations and Am Law 200 law firms to deliver service using flexible and nimble models. The sourcing models include appropriately experienced resources with the needed skill sets to deliver the right work – even on the most strategic and complex projects – at the right time in the most cost-efficient manner.

eLEXir Talent

Overview

Our deep bench of high-caliber legal resources with years o­f experience from Fortune 500 corporations and Am Law 200 firms offers unmatched performance and a focus on efficiency, along with business acumen and leadership skills.

Executive Attorneys

Our Executive Attorneys have extensive experience serving as strategic advisors to senior business leaders. They have served as General Counsel or Head of Practice Area at Fortune 500 corporations or Partners at Am Law 200 firms. Their strong business acumen and leadership skills coupled with their legal expertise keep them ready to take on any project with ease. They know how to navigate the corporate in-house landscape and interact seamlessly with in-house stakeholders and senior management to provide legal solutions that meet your objectives.

Featured Executive Attorneys

Donna L. Kolar

Background— Donna has over 25 years of corporate and environmental legal experience, including corporate governance, litigation, civil and criminal enforcement defense, mergers and acquisitions, permitting, real estate, drafting and negotiating agreements and other related legal matters. She also has in-depth knowledge of regulatory legislation at the federal, state and international level.

Experience— During her time at Browning-Ferris Industries, Inc. Donna served as Senior Environmental Counsel, General Counsel of CECOS International, Inc., and as Division Vice President/Assistant General Counsel of BFI, Donna handled the legal affairs for the entire company including its more than 150 subsidiaries.

Expertise— Corporate affairs, environmental, safety and health regulation, litigation and superfund, and business development and contracts.

Sample Projects

Developed an online management system that tracked status of governmental inspections and compliance matters, enabling accurate compilation of company liability and exposure and evaluation of trends.

Advised senior management of potential ESH liabilities as well as the potential impact on government and community relations issues associated with friendly and hostile takeovers and divestitures.

Background— Joe has over 25 years of experience advising executive leaders on a wide variety of legal issues including litigation, corporate governance and securities. He has a proven record of finding elegant solutions to complex problems and driving results and has demonstrated excellence in leadership and forging relationships dedicated to serving the needs and safeguarding the interests of the company.

Experience— Joe served in a variety of roles during his time at United States Steel Corporation including Senior General Attorney, Assistant General Counsel, Corporate Secretary and General Counsel – Europe. During his tenure he addressed a broad spectrum of commercial and corporate legal matters, as well as joint venture relationships.

Contributed additional service and expertise as the Chair of the Conflicts Committee, reducing average response times from two to three months to less than two weeks.

Captured a gain from 56 percent to 92 percent in favorable votes on executive compensation through the development and deployment of a focused shareholder outreach program.

Negotiated a beneficial agreement with the government of Slovakia while preserving a substantial claim against it.

Cynthia Pevehouse

Background— Cynthia has nearly three decades of experience, with more than 10 years as general counsel and corporate secretary for publicly traded and multinational companies. She has led the legal, compliance, government policy, regulatory, as well as internal investigations functions in a range of industries, from computing technology and interactive media to financial services and retail. During her career as general counsel, Cynthia established a successful track record of providing exceptional legal services and ensuring operational excellence through leadership in team building and talent development, focusing on the creation of positive change.

Experience— Cynthia was a co-founder and principal at Noesis Partners, LLC, where she provided corporate compliance consulting services and advised on strategic and efficient management of sensitive and complex litigation. Prior to that she served as SVP, General Counsel and Secretary to Staples, where she was responsible for the company’s legal activities worldwide, as well as government affairs and compliance.

Expertise— Complex litigation, international compliance and regulation issues, global IT operations and best practice training.

Sample Projects

Developed and oversaw the implementation of a comprehensive IP strategy and established the company’s patent review committee, including training, process improvement, asset and brand optimization, litigation management and enforcement activities, while reducing outside legal spend by 35 percent.

Led corporate strategic cost management initiative for three business divisions with collective budgets in excess of $500M. Also reduced operational expenses by over 15 percent.

Senior Attorneys

Our Senior Attorneys have experience serving as in-house counsel in Fortune 500 corporations and/or as outside counsel at law firms with expertise in specific subject matters of law. On average they have over eight years’ experience, possess strong business acumen and can work effectively with in-house lawyers and businesspeople to achieve the clients’ desired results.

Featured Senior Attorneys

Dave Davis III

Background— Dave has over a decade of experience as corporate legal counsel in the oil and gas industry and has experience drafting, negotiating and advising on a variety of upstream and midstream leasing, drilling, transportation, storage, service and supply agreements. Dave also brings experience in international transactions representing clients in negotiations with the governments of Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Montenegro and Croatia, as well as regulatory experience through successful licensing applications with the U.S. Department of Energy and the Regulatory Commission of Alaska.

Experience— During his nine years at Marathon Oil Dave served as Senior Attorney and HES&S Audit. As Senior Attorney he was the attorney responsible for day-to-day operational matters for Gulf of Mexico Offshore Assets, Marathon Oil Canada Corporation, Marathon E.G. Production Limited, Marathon Kenya Limited B.V. and Marathon Ethiopia Limited B.V., including advising management on key legal risks associated with new venture opportunities.

Provided legal advice and counsel for the acquisition of over $300 million in international petroleum assets.

Represented client in the negotiation and drafting of a 15-year take or pay supply agreement for a multibillion-dollar oil sands venture in Alberta, Canada.

Negotiated and drafted an agreement for the construction of a multimillion-dollar oil sands tailings treatment facility in Reno, Nevada.

Avani Gossai

Background— Avani has almost 10 years of experience representing and providing legal services and counseling to various publicly held companies. She has a broad-based background of counseling clients in major companies that has translated into an ability to partner and lead client groups to sound legal conclusions and excellent business results. She is fluent in Gujarati and proficient in Spanish and Hindi.

Experience— Avani has worked with a range of industries including health care, energy, technology and retail on commercial agreements, regulatory and compliance issues, product safety, intellectual property licensing and protection, and risk management. She most recently served as counsel at Stage Stores, Inc., where she provided legal counsel on complex regulatory and contractual issues.

Expertise—Regulatory and contractual issues, contract drafting in a broad range of agreement types, marketing and trademarks.

Reviewed, negotiated, drafted and interpreted complex commercial contracts for various clients, including a Fortune 5 client with 2014 revenues over $475 billion.

Coordinated agreements across national and international lines of business to improve efficiency and services in business to business and business to consumer relationships.

Ayad Paul Jacob

Background—Ayad has 13 years of experience as an accomplished commercial litigation attorney with broad experience litigating complex cases in state and federal courts nationwide, across a variety of industries. He is accustomed to leading teams, developing and executing litigation strategy from inception to conclusion and counseling clients on risk and litigation avoidance strategies.

Experience— During his time as a litigation attorney he had worked with clients in developing litigation strategy, directing its execution and supervising teams on cases from inception to conclusion. He has also routinely counseled clients on risk assessment and litigation avoidance strategies.

Secured favorable settlement on behalf of minority owners of a privately held power generation facility after initiating and litigating suit for breach of fiduciary duty and other claims arising under partnership agreement and related coal supply contracts.

Terrell Eastman Wilson

Background— Terrell has over 20 years of experience as an attorney and General Counsel and has handled a wide range of legal responsibilities including purchase agreements, trade finance consulting and international business creation.

Experience— Terrell most recently served as counsel for Charlton Webber, PLLC handling documentation and negotiation of commercial leases. Prior to that he served as General Counsel and Vice President of Business Development for Criner Capital, LLC for four years, where he was responsible for business development, investment analysis and legal support to companies engaged in startup, expansion, financing, refinancing, acquisition and sale, including structuring joint ventures, strategic alliances and the privatization of an operating division from a Fortune 500 company.

Expertise—Commercial real estate, energy, startup expansion.

Sample Projects

Responsible for all legal aspects and a supporting responsibility for commercial aspects of formation, structure and organization of three Caribbean companies.

Involved in commercial real estate practice including documentation and negotiation of purchases of long-term interests in revenue-producing rooftops by means of data and communication services and cell tower ground leases.

Attorneys

Our attorneys have experience serving as in-house counsel in Fortune 500 corporations and/or as outside counsel at law firms. Their experience typically ranges from two to eight years. At the upper end of the experience, they bring strong subject matter expertise and are ready to dive into projects. They have experience working collaboratively and navigating the corporate landscape to get work done effectively. At the lower end of the expertise, they work as part of your legal team to provide cost-effective legal solutions to address your needs.

Featured Attorneys

Sara Padua

Background— Sara has over 10 years of experience in the legal profession and over five as an attorney working for several law firms. She has experience in both civil and commercial cases and speaks both French and Spanish fluently.

Experience— After graduating with her J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law, Sara worked as an associate at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP representing public and private clients in a variety of transactions including joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions and debt and equity financings in the energy industry. Most recently she has been an attorney at law for Padua Law Firm, where she has represented private clients in early stage corporate and financing transactions across various industries.

Background— With a great depth of experience in the legal profession, James has a broad background in various areas of law and is adept at working with in-house counsel to provide outsourced general counsel services.

Experience— James served as Senior Vice President and General Counsel for Hartman Income REIT, Inc. for eight years, where he managed closings of acquisitions and organized special purpose entities and joint ventures for the acquisition and development of commercial properties. He also directed outside counsel in litigation of commercial cases in both state and federal courts.

Our paralegals are experienced in working with business clients, in-house counsel and technology to deliver results for you. They understand the legal process and what is required to get things done.

Featured Paralegals

Jennifer Gray

Background— Jennifer has 18 years of experience working in the legal profession as an administrator, office manager and paralegal.

Experience— She has a degree in business administration with a minor in accounting and has been working for private law practices in business positions and major corporations in a broad range of paralegal roles for more than 18 years.

Expertise— She is proficient in all software packages necessary to execute efficiently in delivering services to the corporate environment, and she understands business and how to interact with clients to get desired results.

Project Manager

Our project managers have years of experience understanding the bread-and-butter issues that take up more than 60 percent of a law department’s workload. They are highly skilled in financial/budget management and identifying process and technology solutions that make law departments hyper-efficient. Blending the skills of our project managers with the flexibility of eLEXir attorneys and paralegals creates an unparalleled ability to achieve results in a cost-effective manner.

Featured Project Managers

Nicole Witt

Background— Nicole has more than 14 years of experience as a licensed attorney with J.D. and LL.M. degrees. She has worked with clients in facilitating efficient and effective use of technology.

Experience—A career in legal practice propelled her to receive certifications in multiple solutions that she has effectively implemented at many corporate clients. She has worked with law departments and companies to develop and implement financial management, project management, records management, matter management and contract management solutions.

Expertise— She has also worked on litigation issues, highly technical electronic discovery projects, DOJ investigations and intellectual property matters.

We provide services for:

Contract Management Solutions

An effective contract process to maximize profit

Contracts are an essential building block of business, memorializing the commitments upon which a company is built. We help you improve your contract templates, design approval processes, negotiate with counterparties and administer your contract portfolio. Your contracting can become be a core competence, resulting in strategic advantages and increased profit. eLEXir’s Commercial Contracts Service is a complete and essential contract management solution. From intake through negotiation to administration and every step in-between, eLEXir puts the right technology and the right attorneys with the right pedigree on your side. We serve as a strategic partner to make sure your contract management process is cost-efficient, compliant and streamlined.

Mergers & Acquisitions

Strategic scalability to extend the deal team

Successfully capturing value from a merger or acquisition requires a legal team that understands the strategic value of the relationship, delivers experience to the transaction and maintains focus on post-closing objectives. The challenge is having those skills available when needed, in volume and at a price that makes sense for the work and the deal. eLEXir’s M&A Services covers your most complex transactions from pre-transaction support to agreements through closing and even post-closing. By providing top-tier attorneys as an in-house resource or serving as a complete outsourcing provider, eLEXir ensures your transaction has quality, cost-effective support, strategically placed to ensure your budget and in-house team can focus on the most complex aspects of your transaction.

Expedited Dispute Resolution

What arbitration was meant to be

Morae Global’s Expedited Dispute Resolution (EDR) solution is designed to put the speed and cost advantages back into alternative dispute resolution, with a confidential, accelerated process that returns a simple, final order in just a few days. EDR is a simple “trial by arbitration” process that relies exclusively on highly respected former judges, eliminates additional discovery and delivers both an expedited arbitration and a final order in less than two weeks. EDR provides the parties to a dispute with an expeditious and final resolution to a contested matter – while avoiding the significant time, cost and uncertainty often associated with litigation or traditional alternative dispute resolution.

Special Projects

The right work done by the right people

Organizations frequently face process and people challenges for which they have no easy in-house fix and for which expensive law firms are not a good solution. eLEXir has a strong track record of stepping in to provide solutions for planned and unplanned projects where creativity may be required to deliver solutions in a new way. We listen and help you craft an approach unhindered by “how it has been done before,” delivering unique solutions in terms of legal talent, technology and billing strategies. Examples of Special Projects we have worked on include but are not limited to: